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tv   BBC World News  PBS  March 23, 2011 12:30am-1:00am PDT

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>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?
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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> the colonel gaddafi appears and public for the first time it since the start of international air strikes. he tells supporters they will be victorious. hillary clinton says some of gaddafi's aides may be looking for our way out of the crisis. >> some of it is exploring, what are my options? and we encourage that. >> president obama says he is confident of handing over control of the military operation to an international coalition. these are the latest pictures of anti-aircraft fire over the city of tripoli. welcome to "bbc news." babita sharma.
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as the emergency teams in japan -- for the restrictions are announced in the areas affected by radiation leaks. libyan leader colonel gaddafi has made his first public appearance. speaking in the capital of tripoli he told his supporters he will not be defeated. he says his enemies will be consigned to the dustbin of history. it came against a backdrop of whose in charge of the international military operation appeare. >> another define performance.
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this is the first time we have seen him since the u.n.- authorized attacks on his country. in an address that was apparently live in tripoli on tuesday, his message was unrepentant. >> gerat libyan people you are living too glorious hours. all of the people are with us. we will have a revolution against imperialism. i am not afraid of the planes that cause destruction. i am defined. my home is here. i am here, i am here, i am here. >> even as he was speaking these words, on american television came the suggestion that perhaps the regime is trying to explore its options internationally. >> i am not aware that he personally has reached out, but i do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching out. so that is why i say this is a
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very dynamic situation. >> so far, u.s. forces have taken a prominent role in un authorized operation. after our phone conversation with david cameron and nicolas sarkozy, barack obama made clear that soon increasingly fewer american planes will be involved appeared >> i would expect that over the next several days, we will have clarity and a meeting of the minds of all those participating in the process. we are seeing a significant reduction in the number of u.s. planes involved in operations over libya appeared >> this is the result. a workshop on the military base in tripoli. overnight bombing had caused some destruction but no one had died. elsewhere in the city, authorities alleged allied air strikes have killed many civilians. the bbc has asked for evidence of this but none has been provided. >> joining me on the line from
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tripoli is a local resident. we are not revealing his name. thank you for joining us. just tell me what exactly is going on at the moment in to the capitol where you are. >> i can tell you it's very quiet. i am not hearing any shelling or anti-aircraft. >> and how has it been during the day when we have heard reports that there have been plenty of gunfire there? describe to me what you have seen in the past few days. >> there was a bombardment on the base. the ground troops were -- anti- aircraft. they fire ak-47. so it was actually very
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frightening heard >> so how do you feel? >> so we are trying to sleep. >> and are you hoping for a change for gaddafi to step down, or are you hoping that he stays it? >> [unintelligible] >> have you had any contact with any international troops at all or international forces? >> no. we have no contact with them here >> but i presume you have seen signs of the military operation in the air taking place. have you been witness to much of the bombing taking place there? >> in tripoli, we have not seen a any. >> how much support do think gaddafi has in the capital at
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the moment? >> i am not sure of the number of people. i would estimate. he has the support, but i am sure -- [unintelligible] so maybe people support the -- model. >> do you have adequate access to food and water where you are , it's life continuing as normal? >> no. it is not the way it was before. but still we get there. water. later at night. [unintelligible] >> how concerned are you for your safety? >> so actually nowadays, two nights ago, one of the shells
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got my rooftop of my house. v ery scared. >> thank you very much for talking to us. we appreciate that. a tripoli resident. in eastern libya, two u.s. airmen have been rescued after their fighter jet crashed due to mechanical failure. it happened in benghazi. these are the first civilian casualties' of the conflict so far. >> it is the last and the new coalition needs -- an american fighter jet crash landing at in libya, the pilots forced to reject. it appears the mission it may have opened fire on friendly villages to only came to help. -- who only came to help.
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>> we met one who was injured by shrapnel. his son is in intensive care. achmed is angry at what has happened but he does not what the coalition to stop. he calls this a small price for a mission that is saving people's lives. put simply, people here want more of this. gaddafi's army, bombed by the polish and coalition, photograpr posterity. it is a looter's paradise. watching these scenes tells you all you need to know about how desperate they are for arms. and after weeks of fighting, the strain is showing.
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the rebels argue whether to push for. some are accused of being agents for gaddafi because they want fighters to advance. others are criticized for standing by and not helping. over the last few days, the rebels have been held at this point. this is their front line. this is a town that is 25 kilometers away from the fighting at its most intense. everyone -- every now and again they make sorties up here. the loss of life is mountingin strategic town that holds the key to the east. >> across a road from three or four or five cities. to be in this city, it is -- >> it is important to you as
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well. >> it is important for us as welker >> government forces hit the local power station to cut electricity to the east. this is become a struggle for resources and land and neither side shows signs of relenting. >> in southern syria, police have attacked a mosque, killing four people. protests began last friday. demonstrators made the mosque their base and said it would not leave until their demands were met. japan has announced further restrictions on food and produce a in to the area near the fukushima plant following the earthquake that struck japan 10 days ago.
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naoto kan ordered the governors of fukushima to hold shipments of a range of agricultural goods after they showed higher than normal levels of radiation. the chief secretary to the japanese cabinet told a news conference that nations importing food from japan must take a logical stance when considering restrictions of products from near the damaged nuclear plant. we will go live to tokyo. chris, we understand that within the last half hour or so, the u.s. fda has said the u.s. will be holding milke produce a from areas exported from the nuclear site there. how are the japanese reacting to that news and the japanese government, perhaps concerned over their exports? >> yes, the u.s. talking about milk and produce.
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with that information only coming out and the last two minutes, he would not expect me to have immediate japanese reaction to this. this is the concern for the japanese government, both with their own people and with people in other countries. they have of very fine line they are walking here because on the one hand they are trying to give out information and take precautions to protect people. on the other hand, they do not want to scare people. 11 varieties of leafy green vegetables, including cabbage and broccoli as well. these varieties have been produced around the fukushima nuclear plant. is not toe and th eat that produce. you would need to a 100 grams of those vegetables for 10 days to receive the amount of radiation that you or i would receive normally from the environment in
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a year. they are still talking about very small amounts, but the americans feeling is it safe as ecaution to ban the vegetables from that area, not the whole country. >> it will be interesting to see how the japanese react to that, given that the exports are at the height of their economy at the moment. regarding the work and the cooling systems at the plant. >> around reactor number two heightened levels of radiation have been discovered. it is about 500 microsieverts an hour. the maximum data work is allowed to be exposed to in a year is 250 microsieverts. that is far higher than is safe for them to operate in.
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a worker is working around reactor two, that work has been halted. today, they were working on trying to -- the electrical systems there. they have had to pull back for the moment steered from reactor number one there is concern that every actor was designed to deal with temperatures up to 302 degrees celsius. the temperature is 400 degrees celsius. they have stepped up their cooling operations there. but it goes to show that it is still not anywhere close to being a straight for operation. >> thank you very much. the us fda has said they will hold milk produce imports from areas of japan near the crippled nuclear power plant fukushima. nations inising all the world to take a logical stance when considering restrictions of products that
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have been produced near the area. you are watching "bbc news". the royal coach gets a spring cleaning ahead of the wedding of prince william and kate middleton. aid agencies and the ivory coast said it will soon be unable to assist the tens of thousand people fleeing increasing violence and the main city unless they receive more funds. fighting has intensified. he refuses to give up the presidency. >> hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from the conflict already. but still they come. the city folk never thought their lives in are of ivory coast, once one of the richest countries in africa, would come to this. this old man saw three days of shooting and fighting. so he is leaving the city and returning to his native village. abidjan is and flames because the income and refuses to leave
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office. everyone but his closest associates says he lost last november's elections. now his army and militia under pressure from all armed opponents and sanctions from the international community are lashing out. >this woman paid for her ticket but said she was forced off the soldiers. gbagbo's they did not want the world to know the population of of sean was fleeing. the election was closely monitored by the united nations. u.n. officials said they are sure that mr. bgagbo lost. there are 10 times more people are arriving from bobbabidjan than normal.
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ordinary, decent people lives are being turned upside down in ivory coast as the rules of democracy have not yet taken root root. here. >> you are watching "bbc news". the headlines. colonel gaddafi appears in public. he tells supporters there will be victorious. president obama is confident of handing over the military operation to an international coalition. a short while ago, i i spoke to robert hunter who is the u.s. ambassador to nato under president clinton. i began by asking him how he thought the military operations were taking place. >> i think that the operation, which has been conducted mostly
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by nato countries, is seriously degrading gaddafi's capacity to use and his and advanced weaponry against civilians, except when he puts his ground forces in among civilians themselves. in terms of air power, that is now gone. tanks are coming under heavy bombardment. >> much has been said about the political martyrs of this operation in terms of getting concerned about the lack of direction of this offensive. do you believe it does not have a specific direction, and also, should nato play some kind of role in meeting on it? >> as those are two separate issues appear. in terms of the objective, those were defined by the un security council resolution 1973 which is to protect civilians using all
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means necessary, but it is also clear that there is no consensus about whether this effort should continue to the point where gaddafi is deposed, militarily if he will not leave any other way. there is a real division, not only among different countries and the nato alliance, but also with an individual governments such as in washington. my own view is that that needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later and that the president's original instincts that gaddafi must go is the correct one. but that would require a different kind of mandate and the un has given now. as for nato, i do not think there were any real problems in the conduct of operations. the real question is whether the united states will be perceived in the arab world as being out and front or whether other countries can take the lead who are less likely to suffer from
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pass activities, such as the invasion of iraq. there is a -- it is also a bit unseemly to see the nato allies squabbling with one another. that will have an impact on operations. it makes the alliance look like it is and disarray occurred >> there is much more on the "bbc news" website. there are pages of analysis of what is going on, details of the conflict. you can keep up-to-date with breaking stories and follow me with the latest on twitter. babitabbc. now, the embattled yemeni president has given his strongest indication that he is preparing to step down. yemen is in danger of collapsing into civil war after the defection of several military
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commanders. tanks and rival factions have been on the streets in of the capital center. david lloyd has more. >> the turning point after weeks of protest was the slaughter last friday. dozens were killed and hundreds more injured. the protests intensified and key backers of a long-term president abdullah sali, including most of the cabinet, called for him to step down. so who is the president? he has been president for more than 30 years, first in the north and then of the united yemen since 1990. he is close to the end of his second official term as elected president, elected and what was widely considered rate polls. sali said last month that he would not seek reelection and an effort to stem protests.
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although there have been attempts to amend the constitution to allow them to serve a third term. there is speculation that he was grooming his son as a successor. yemen's security forces have been trained by the u.s., in this, of course country in the arab world. britain has increased its aid substantially to try to stabilize the country, but western criticism of the violence carried out against protesters against the president's forces has been muted. that is because he is an ally against al qaeda and yemen is where they have their strongest base. >> the u.s. administration is taking a more cautious approach because they are concerned about the presence of al qaeda. and they are also concerned about protecting their relationships with the president's son and his nephew
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who have been carrying out counter-terrorism efforts. >> these hors d'oeuvre vehicles are manned by troops loyal to the president. he has appealed for unity, warning that a coup attempt would lead to civil war. in the center of town, troops who oppose him are holding the defense ministry and the central bank as well as protecting the protestors still in the main square. a colonel of the rebel forces says he is opposing a criminal regime. holding fire while pressure is put on the president to step down. >> it is just under six weeks to go until the wedding of kate milton that to prince william. our correspondent has the story. >> a glance behind the scenes
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-- polished and preens to perfection. especially this a 1902 carriage that will take them as husband is away from westminster abbey to buckingham palace. it is no stranger to of royal occasion. the queen has used it for decades. in 1945 with her sister and parents. more recently, williams' mother and father traveled in it after their wedding, with huge crowds that lined the streets to celebrate. >> there is something very special about this sort of occasion. it only happens once in somebody's life time. and so it is very important that we get it right. >> also, getting a much needed clean, this state rolls-royce targeted during the student demonstrators. it will take a minutes into the abbey. >> it was slightly damaged
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during the student protesters but we decided, as it was going to be used at the wedding, they would give it a 60 minute makeover. so she is getting all spruced up for the day. >> perhaps the most unpredictable of participants -- daniel is an old hand and a likely to be entrusted with leading up'queethe queen's carr. prince william and kate milton have said that they do not want their wedding to be too extravagant, but this is a grand moral vacation and inevitably, that means a much pomp and pageantry -- this is a grand royal occasion. >> colonel gaddafi delivered a defiant address telling his supporters that would eventually
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be victorious. more on that to come. stay with us. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. ♪ >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide
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range of companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.
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